Wacca Wache to Isle of Palms

The trip down to Isle of Palms was one of the most interesting segments so far.
As you saw from the earlier post, Wacca Wache Marina is on the Waccamaw River, and we traveled through that primordial forest and river approaching and leaving Wacca Wache.

Here’s a photo of the marina. Very simple – a single building that house the marina office, the restroom facilities, and a restaurant.

There are hundreds of boats docked in the cove behind it, but its face on the water is very simple. This photo was taken the morning we departed. The tide was so high the night before that no on could come to the restaurant by car – all the parking lots were flooded. The marina building looked like an island. All the customers arrived by boat. And the catfish tacos were great! And they had Guinness on tap!

Leaving Wacca Wache, the first two hours were beautiful – early morning travel on the Waccamaw.

Once we got below Georgetown, we entered a whole new ecosystem – the low country. We were twisting and turning our way down rivers and creeks, surrounded on both sides by low marshes. No other boats except dozens of small open skiffs with outboards. Coming the other way after a morning hunt. The boat, the motor and the occupants all camouflaged.

Sometimes these creeks were just 300 feet across. But we stayed in the middle and had deep water all the way.

This photo does a pretty poor job of showing what the marshes look like. You just have to imagine that they are on both sides, and that they run to the east and the west as far as you can see. You can also see one of the channel markers.

Here’s a closer photo of a channel marker. For most of the trip, you keep the red triangles to your right, and the green squares to the left. Except at Georgetown, where it reverses. And then reverses back three miles later!

You can also see one of the local private piers. Homes in this stretch tend to be set back a couple of hundred feet from the water, seeking higher ground. Then the piers have to reach out another 100′ to seek deeper water. So there is in effect a 300′ long wooden boardwalk reaching out from the homes.

Anyway, we burst out of the creeks just above Charleston. Isle of Palms acts as a barrier island; the ICW runs just inside it/beside it/behind it.

Stan and Susan came to meet me at the marina, a residential community with beautiful homes and boats. You can see Charleston’s iconic bridges to the west, across miles oof marsh and palmetto.

They have built a wonderful home in IoP. Here’s the exterior: two floors of living space, plus a rooftop deck. Four stalls in all.

The interior is the surprise: it was designed to accommodate all the furniture and decorations they loved in New Canaan Ct. Plus some gorgeous custom cabinetry by Amish craftsmen that they have known for years.

In contrast to this warm, traditional interior, the main deck feels contemporary, including an infinity pool.

You can see the ocean directly across the street. The beach is deep, and seemingly limitless, and dogs are welcome to run free (unleashed) from 4PM til 10AM. Heaven for man and beast!.

Gotta go because S&S’s daughter Megan has come for a visit. I remember her from when she was a child. And she is still gorgeous.